Corney & Barrow 

Fish and seafood can provide both amazing food and wine combinations and dramatically disastrous clashes, with oil, vinegar and spices providing challenges. Oily fish cries out for acidity in a dish and this extends to the wine choice, so fresh, vibrant zesty wines are better with sardines and mackerel. Good old-fashioned Muscadet, is a great example. Red mullet, also oily, is delicious with light reds including southern hemisphere Pinot Noir. Noble fish such as halibut, Dover sole and turbot and top-notch shellfish warrant extending the budget. Burgundy is the most obvious first port of call. If headline names such as Puligny and Meursault are beyond the budget, there are great value wines to be found in lesser-known Rully, Montagny and Saint-Aubin and in straight Chardonnay from recognised producers. White Rhône and Pessac-Léognan are good alternatives, as are some Californian and Australian whites. Beware: overly-oaked wines will simply overpower delicious and expensive fish. A preconception that white wine is a ‘must’ with fish denies people some of the loveliest of marriages of food and wine. Pinot Noir works beautifully, particularly with dishes where red wine is part of the recipe.